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08 August 2008

It seems my notions about links are wildly unusual (and thanks Jules for adding them Wednesday). My idea is that since we're discussing science here, if you disagree with some point I make, or have a point to add yourself, then it is a good idea to include a link or full reference to a good source. One of the things about doing science is that you don't take people's reporting as gospel. Scientists are people, and people make mistakes. So it's a good idea to make it easy for people to check out the full original source. When you've described something well, they can be thankful for your much better description. Or maybe they can learn more about the topic. Wins all around.

Maybe there's something about how the blog world works that makes this a bad idea. If so, let me know how and why. In the mean time, please make it easy for people to follow up the science you bring up.

it helps if you can tell the good references from the bad ones, especially on t'internet.i was taught to use "P.R.O.M.P.T.", a method where you analyze the reliability of a site by its Provenance, Relevance, Objectivity, Method, Presentation, and Timeliness.here's a description;http://www.howtowriteessay.co.uk/critical-evaluation.html

Google doesn't distinguish between "Look at this nonsense [link]" and "This is a good source [link]", so you can end up promoting nonsense by linking to it. IMO, it's best to break-up nonsense links with a space or two, but keep the positive links intact.

Welcome

I'll be trying what seems to be an unusual approach in blogs -- writing to be inclusive of students in middle school and jr. high*, as well as teachers and parents (whether for their own information or to help their children). To that end, comments will have to pass a stricter standard than I'd apply for an all-comers site. It shouldn't be onerous, just keep to the topic and use clean language.

I expect it to be fun for all, however, as you really can get quite far in understanding the world, even climate, by understanding this sort of fundamental. If I get too much less fundamental, let me know where I went astray.

* Ok, I concede that not many middle school students will get everything. Even a fair number of adults will find some parts hard to follow. Still, some middle school kids will have fun. And almost everyone will follow a number of posts just fine.

Please see the comment policy for details. And the link policy for details about that. The latter is more open than you might expect.

About Me

In my day job I work on the oceanography, meteorology, climatology, glaciology end of my science interests, but I'm interested in everything, science or not. So I've also been on stage in a production of Comedy of Errors, run an ultramarathon, and been to Epidaurus, Greece, to see a production of Euripides' Iphigenia among the Taurians
Prior to starting the current job, I was a post-doc in oceanography in the UCAR ocean modelling program, and earned my doctorate from the Department of the Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago (1989). My undergraduate degree involved Applied Math, Engineering, Astrophysics, and Glaciology.
Of course I don't speak for my employer, whoever that may be.